SSUSA RELIEVES 5 UIC'S OF DUTIES AFTER RENO DISPUTE

Sept. 1, 2012

RENO, NEV. – Senior Softball USA released five Umpire in Chiefs (UICs) for an incident that occurred during the Rock ‘n Reno softball tournament on June 1.

The dismissals resulted after National UIC Ray Starwalt and three regional UICs, Beul Walters, Rudy Rodriguez and Tom Bussey, threatened to pull all Senior Softball umpires off the field during the tournament because of a disagreement between Starwalt and his supervisor, Rich Seifman, vice president/ umpires concerning SSUSA policies. A fifth UIC, John Carr, also was implicated.

While the issue was temporarily resolved so that the tournament could continue, Senior Softball Chief Executive Officer Terry Hennessy said his organization “cannot and will not be held hostage in the future by any group.

“Our main concerns are the teams who paid money to play in the tournament and the integrity of the game,” he said.

“We are deeply saddened by this situation, especially because SSUSA gave Regional UICs a raise last season, increased game fees for all umpire this season and established a special stipend for complex UICs this season,” he added.

He said that the five UICs were relieved of all duties.

“Senior Softball-USA would like to emphasize that these five UICs do not represent other regional UICs, nor do we believe that they represent the view of most SSUSA umpires,” Hennessy said.

As a result, SSUSA is abolishing the position of National Umpire in Chief and has re-structured its umpire corps.